


The View From Here

by interndayna



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 07:19:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8195674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interndayna/pseuds/interndayna
Summary: Lapis Lazuli is a hopeless dropout grad student in astronomy who's given a second chance, and Peridot is a freshly certified electrical engineer with all the talent in the world at her fingertips. When the two become roommates at a Diamond Corporation project site, and later become colleagues, do they become fast friends, star crossed lovers, or adversaries? Only time will tell.





	

The slow grind of the charter bus to a stop on the gravel road was not the most pleasant way to wake up. In fact, Lapis Lazuli found it quite unpleasant, jerking upright and nearly knocking her backpack off of the seat. “Fuck,” she muttered to herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She, along with the three dozen other twenty somethings on the bus, was coming here for a very specific reason, and that was to excel. 

Tall order for a girl who just rode a greyhound bus cross country from Florida with nothing but her Walmart brand backpack that contained all her possessions- an antiquated Dell laptop, some loose, wrinkly, and probably clean clothes, and a variety of other little objects that were the bare minimum of survival. Plus her trusty TI-84, of course. She’d seen the other people bringing furniture, boxes and boxes of things loaded into separate trailers, neatly labeled, and more expensive than anything she had. But after what she’d been through, having next to nothing was doing pretty well. Not that she was going to think about her “tragic backstory” now. Scoff. This was a fresh start, even if she was just leaving to shake off the demons she’d left back there. No time for lamentation.

The door squealed open, and she threw her bag over her shoulder, the loose blue sweater sliding a bit off her shoulder at the shifting straps. She shoved it back up. She still had the square shoulders and streamlined arms of a swimmer, and that supported her backpack well enough. She shivered as the crisp January air reminded her that she didn’t have a jacket on (or at all, for that matter). From the parking lot, the complex was visible on the mountain, a quarter mile up. Five refracting telescopes, large dishes, and a white building nearby, with a brick apartment complex perched on the side of the mountain were visible. 

Lapis shuffled to the trailhead, where a woman in a yellow pencil skirt and white shirt, elegant, timeless, ageless, and powerful, was staring at a clipboard with an apathetic glaze over her face. She tapped a gold-plated pen against the yellow paper impatiently, watching the bus unload impassively. Already, Lapis felt horribly out of her league. She kept her safe distance and shivered again, rubbing the stiff hair on her arm that was sticking up. She exhaled, the soft puff turning to steam midair. A few other students were standing near her, all of them with duffel bags and rolling suitcases. She was a stranger in a strange land. Oh, she thought. The woman was talking. Whatever. She’d just tag along with whatever the other people were doing. And, she was gone. What now?

_________________

Peridot was having an utterly delightful time lugging her not one, not two, but three bulky chartreuse suitcases up to the trailhead. After having to get them into her mom’s car, into the bus, and off of the bus, she was less than thrilled with her packing choices. Plus, she had more furniture and boxes in one of the company U-Hauls or whatever. She was going to have a lot of fun unpacking, she thought, a rather tight-lipped frown on her face. 

She’d come all this way to Northern California, middle of nowhere, from her home in Palo Alto, and this was probably the biggest job opportunity she’d had in her life. Her doctorate, job, living expenses, all paid for. Tears had welled in her eyes when she’d gotten a letter with the famous DiamondCorp logo on it. She’d be famous, her potential would be renowned for years to come, and it all started here. She was more than smug when she showed it off to her colleagues, and maybe that was also how she lost friends, but she didn’t care. She was going to work at DiamondCorp!

“Welcome, new recruits,” A warm and yet somehow unwelcoming voice met their ears, with a soft rasp that gave it a rich quality. It was low, but still melodious, as if she was trying very hard to sound like she wasn’t fed up with everyone and everything. Every word was enunciated flawlessly, rehearsed like a true hostess. Peridot already liked her. “to DiamondCorp.”

“Holy smokes,” Peridot said, suddenly realizing that this was not just any employee- this was the Yellow Diamond, one of the Diamond sisters that sat at the peak of the scientific, business, and financial world. This was her employer, too, but that was the least of her important titles.

“We’ll be taking a short tour of the facilities on Prentiss Peak at 3. Until then, we encourage you to make yourself at home in your apartment facilities.” The woman walked back up the mountain, leaving the researchers in silent awe. Except, of course, the blue haired girl on the fringes of the group with just a backpack. Peridot was already a bit confused by her. She was probably the weird spacey type. Whatever, she thought to herself. She’d have a great time here, and it was going to be totally awesome!  
_________________

“Lazuli, Lapis.” Lapis was the first one to check in at the front desk, surprise surprise. Without all the heavy bags and things to weigh her down, she was probably a good five minutes ahead of the rest of the pack. The lobby was decorated in tasteful neutral blues and grays, with dark wood floors and fluorescent lighting, and paneled drapes over the windows. Nothing too fancy, but definitely better than the greaseball place she’d left behind. She looked around, waiting for the desk guy to find her keys.

“Here.” He smiled warmly, and put them on the desk along with a welcome folder. She picked it up and glanced over it with mild skepticism. “Your roommate is Peridot Labao, and she’ll be here shortly. Welcome to Prentiss Peak. If you need anything, there’s always someone at the desk, Ms. Lazuli.” She nodded and headed to the elevator. Third floor, room 56. The doors shut just as she saw another person entering the lobby, and a sharp ping let her know she was on the third floor. 

Lapis walked along the wood floored hallway- what was it with this place and wood floor? She ran her fingers against the wall. It was slightly textured. This place reminded her a little bit of a hotel, and less of her old apartment. Was that a bad thing? She realized she’d missed her door while lost in thought. Turning back and looking at the numbers, she double checked the paper. 356. She sighed and shuffled back. Popping the door open with a sharp twist of the key in the lock, she looked inside.

The main room was bigger than her entire apartment last time. A full size kitchen was on the right, light wood like what she’d seen once at IKEA with laminate countertop was there, and nice enough. The walls were white, the floor was that ceramic tile that looks like wood grain, and there was no furniture except the countertops and some in-wall shelving. Windows were against the back wall, and to the left, there was a hallway that presumably went to the bedrooms and bathroom. She decided to explore. The first door was a bedroom that had one window and a full sized mattress held up by a metal frame. The closet was accordion doors with poles, bigger than her last closet. Not that she had enough clothes to put in it. She shut it and dropped her backpack on the bed, claiming it silently. Slouching, she noticed how low the thermostat was. She cranked it up to 75. If her roommate didn’t like the sauna like temperatures, too bad.  
__________________

For a moment, Peridot wished that maybe, just maybe, she had packed a bit more lightly. However, her gaming consoles, computer ware, comforts of home, and many, many electronic gadgets would not be left to decay in her bedroom back home, so they’d make the long journey up to the apartments. She made precisely three trips to the lobby- one with all her bags of clothes, and two with her boxes of other things. She’d brought a TV, too, and three computers she’d taken apart to put back together later. Her parents would be driving her car up tomorrow, and after that, she’d be able to go furniture shopping- the apartments only came with beds, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Couches, chairs, tables, and shelves would all have to be their purchases. 

Perhaps her roommate would be another engineer- someone who would be equally excited about setting up circuitry, televisions, and wiring the suite to the internet so that she wouldn’t have to raise a finger to turn on the fan. That was the sort of thing she found joy in, and as she piled her things into the elevator and hit the button to the third floor, she eagerly anticipated her future friendship. Taking it in two trips to the front door of the apartment, she opened the door with a click, and looked around. 

She could’ve sworn she didn’t have a roommate, by the looks of the place. It was totally empty, and the thermostat was set to ‘hell.’ This was weird. She shoved her possessions into the entryway, to be unloaded after she’d gotten a good look around. The moment she paused to play with the faucet, she heard something from the hallway. Her roommate? She turned around. It was the blue haired girl from earlier.

“Uh, hi!” She smiled awkwardly, baring her teeth in a wide grin. “I’m Peridot.” She was going to be nice, and they’d be friends! Maybe the pessimistic girl would actually see what a great person Peridot was. However, she didn’t look the least bit moved.

“Lapis.” She turned back around to the bedroom she presumed the girl had chosen, and Peridot was offended by the dismissive attitude she seemed to have. She grabbed the top three boxes from her stack and carried them to the room that didn’t have Lapis in it, the corner room. It was cozy, she decided, and it was also going to be perfect once she moved in all her things.

First came her gadgetry. She’d brought shelves with her, ones that she could easily set up, and it barely took half an hour to get them all set up. They were clean white and looked a bit sterile, but not for long. All of her electric gizmos were stacked on the highest shelves- her fiber optic lights, her miniature Tesla coil, her Gameboy and all its accessories, and all her circuit boards. She smiled contentedly at the bright display, then heaped her books- all science fiction or nonfiction about science- onto the lower shelves. Next came the bed. She had an alien bedspread and white sheets, and too many throw pillows to count. Who could blame her, though? They were cozy. Finally, she unloaded her clothes into the closet, and tucked her tiny stuffed alien, which she’d gotten as a little kid, into the blankets. She was home, or the closest she could get here. 

She stood back to admire her handiwork, two hours worth of it, when she noticed that Lapis was standing in the doorway.  
_________________

“I take it you’re the engineering type.” Lapis gestured to the numerous computer parts sitting on the shelves. She was smug, a bit haughty, even. Sure, she didn’t have blankets or a pillow, but whatever. If she could mock her new roommate, she would.

“Yes.” Peridot said, her mouth puckered in distaste. The faces this girl made were hilarious, she thought. Lapis gave her a closer look. She was medium complected, with a sharp jaw, button nose, and big green eyes. Her hair was bleached, and chopped into a haphazard pixie cut, which did little to accentuate the round wire glasses that acted like magnifying glasses on her lime eyes. Lapis put her money on Filipino, but the eye color was weird. Colored contacts, maybe. What a dweeb.

“So just, stay out of my way.” She turned around and went back to her room. She’d already hooked her laptop up to the Internet, had started a blog post, and was already looking for what she’d buy when she got her first paycheck. Priority one: bedding. She was halfway through the beachy turquoise tones when she heard her roommate calling for her. Damn, this girl was needy. Was she expecting Lapis to be a fountain of friendship? God, she hoped not. “What?”

“It’s 2:30. We have to be up at the facilities by three. We don’t want to be late.” She was smiling again- was she always this friendly, or was she just trying to earn Lapis’s approval? 

“Fine.” Lapis shoved her outdated cell phone into her pocket, along with her wallet and keys. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, hope you liked the first chapter! For the most part, I have this mapped out, but any criticism/suggestions/ideas are welcomed! I'd love feedback!


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